California Fire Now Largest In History

The Thomas wildfire in California that has destroyed more than 700 homes and burned an area greater than New York, Brussels and Paris combined, became the largest in the State of California’s history a few hours ago.

The fire has in the meantime consumed more than 273,400 acres, easily eclipsing the previous record holder, the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego county, that burned a total of 273,246 acres. It broke out on December 4th and was fuelled by the strong winds, sweeping it into downtown Ventura.

The sad milestone means 2017 is now the most destructive fire season ever in the state. Already in October of this year, it was clear 2017 would be very hazardous when a series of smaller wildfires burned 10,000 homes and killed 40 people.

The state fire agency Cal Fire declared that the blaze is now 65% contained and expectations are that it will continue to slow.

Any new growth on the current Thomas fire will probably be due to controlled burns by firefighters, which now have a good overview of what they’re fighting.